Emeritus
by Mariel Nightstalker
Summary: Harry Potter seduces Louis Weasley. Louis doesn't mind at all. SLASH Harry/Louis


**Emeritus**

_Emeritus: retired but retaining an honorary title._

Snowy cloths covered the tables and lustrously gleaming chandeliers hung heavy from above, tinkling with every breeze coming through the open windows. It was a warm summer night and a faint sheen of sweet gleamed on the temples of many of the guests that engaged in dancing earlier in the evening.

A guest hovered gloomily by the bar, staring down into his drink, watching the slice of lemon that came with it as a garnish revolve slowly.

Louis Weasley turned seventeen earlier that year. He had been initially pleased with his new status as an officially-recognized adult by the Ministry. That is, he was pleased until he realized that he was now required to attend all manner of fancy events with his parents and older sisters, events that he had previously thought his sisters attended because they liked the excuse to buy new clothes. Apparently they had to go, and so did he.

The bar was not free and he'd spent the last of his pocket money on the drink in front of him only to find that half of it was simple syrup. Cheap Ministry bastards couldn't even give them drinks that weren't watered down. Moreover, he was out of cigarettes and craved frantically for a smoke.

Conversations quieted down and he raised his eyes from his drink to see that the guest of honor, some newly-promoted Department Head or other, was beginning to give his speech. Louis rolled his eyes and took a gulp of his watery drink. He had heard a hundred speeches just like this one and was getting incredibly bored with it all. He felt sorry for his parents; his mother's position as Judge on the Wizengamot meant that she had to show up for countless events since her promotion. What he had been suffering under for less than 6 months she had been enduring for years.

His thoughts roamed as the speech went on and he looked around at the other guests. The average age was over 100, and there were only a few other young people there besides his sisters and himself. Birth rates were up, but most of the people here were long past their child-bearing years.

His eyes landed on Albus Potter, who was there with his father. Albus caught him looking and gave him a him a comical grimace out of sympathy for their mutual predicament. Louis smirked and rolled his eyes.

A small flash of light drew his eyes from Albus to Uncle Harry. They'd come from his glasses when he bent his head to whisper something into Albus' ear. Albus suddenly grinned and covered his mouth, shoulders shaking with silent mirth. Uncle Harry grinned too and put his arm around his youngest son, giving him a squeeze.

Louis chewed on the inside of his cheek, watching Uncle Harry.

Uncle Harry was the man who made him realize that the reason he wasn't interested in girls wasn't because he just hadn't found the right one yet but because he liked men. It'd happened by accident one afternoon. Because he spent most of his summers with his Uncle Charlie learning how to train dragons or just hanging out at the compound, he only saw the extended family on big holidays like Christmas. Even then he was usually too distracted by his own generation to pay much heed to his many aunts and uncles, who usually spent the get-togethers talking about stuff that happened during the War, long before he was born.

But two years ago, when Louis was fifteen, Charlie said things were too crazy at the compound with a new breed of dragon to have him stay with him that year. For the first time since he was eight he had to spend summer at home with his sisters. From the looks they gave him, they weren't too thrilled either.

A week into the holidays he couldn't stand their bickering and Dominique's packs of friends (most of which giggled when they saw him for no conceivable reason). He'd never been particularly close with James or the other cousins because none of them were in Hufflepuff with him, but he knew they were all pretty close knit and this was the perfect opportunity to make an effort to hang out.

James welcomed him with open arms, claiming that he always wanted to spend the holidays with him but couldn't because Louis was always in Romania. Louis liked James immediately but kept his guard up. James had a reputation for playing pranks.

He ended up spending most of his time with either the Potters or Uncle Ron's kids. Through that course of action he saw a lot of Uncle Harry, be it at mealtimes or in the evenings when he could be coaxed into playing Quiditch with them or, when begged mercilessly, telling stories about the War.

Louis initially chalked up his inability to look at or think of anything but Uncle Harry whenever they were in the same room as hero worship. He'd seen his sisters act this way when their mother's model friends came to visit. The sex dreams were harder to explain away, and finally he had to acknowledge to himself that he had a massive crush.

He didn't do anything about it, obviously, and had since then moved on to experimenting with a dragon keeper in Romania during the summer and a certain willing Ravenclaw sixth-year named Karl at school. His stomach still did summersaults when he saw Uncle Harry at Christmas a few months ago, though, so he knew he wasn't over him completely. Still, he did his best to hide it and act normal.

The speech ended and people began to mingle again. He looked around for his parents, knowing that they would be able to leave sometime within the next hour and that he could beg them to make that sooner rather than later if he acted quickly.

He spotted them and was about to approach when he felt someone touch his elbow. He turned around, polite smile in place, and found himself looking at Uncle Harry.

~000~

Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour were both beautiful people on their own, but the fusion of their genes had created a trio of positively angelic children. Their eldest daughter had been courted by princes and athletes and all the other assorted wealthy men. Their second daughter was still too young to have attracted much more than distant admiration, but soon enough she would be as surrounded by suitors as her sister.

It was their youngest, Louis, that drew Harry's eye. Harry had always been fascinated by truly beautiful people. He wondered what life was like for them, if they loved or hated or just didn't care that they were born looking more than human. Probably some mixture of all three, he supposed. He found Louis to be the embodiment of that certain school of blonde beauty that evokes Greek deities.

He was fortunate that he only saw Louis maybe once or twice a year under normal circumstances, or else his fascination would have grown to unbearable breadth by now. As it was, those brief glimpses were more than enough to inflame his imagination. Ginny accused him of being unfaithful when she was packing her bags to leave him for good. She was right, in a way. Harry's lust had fixated on Louis since he was fourteen.

And now, as merely an honorary Uncle, he could move in for the kill. Louis was seventeen and single and very obviously gay (even though neither of his parents seemed to have noticed).

Harry looked into those wide and still just a touch innocent eyes, drinking in the brilliance of their color and shape. Fleur had never done anything for him, but somehow the same eyes on Louis made his stomach tighten. He smiled.

"Hello, Louis. I see you've finally gotten roped into these little meetings from hell like the rest of us."

Louis laughed a little, looking nervous but desperately happy to be speaking to him.

"Yeah; nobody warned me, so these were an unpleasant surprise."

"How nasty of them," Harry commiserated. He jerked his head at the bar, "Albus has decided to go home now, but I have to stay and give a toast in half an hour. Do you mind keeping me company until then so that the War Minister can't trap me? I'll buy you a drink."

Louis nodded assent, bit his lip, and asked as they walked, "What's wrong with the War Minister?"

Harry oh-so-casually put his hand on Louis' back as they navigated the crowd, "He is under the false impression that I give a shit about his dog breeding hobby. If left unchecked, he could blather on about those dogs for days at a time."

"Oh. I can see why that would be boring."

"It is," Harry gave him a very grave look, "So, what would you like to drink?"

Louis thought of the manliest thing he could, and what came out was, "Whiskey, neat."

Harry raised an eyebrow, knowing that Louis was trying to impress him and finding it endearing. Was it possible he'd ever been this young himself? He relayed the request to the bartender, who nodded in recognition to him. Harry went to an average of three formal or semi-formal gatherings a week. He knew all the professional staff in the Wizarding world by name.

They made slightly awkward small talk for a few minutes while Louis sipped his drink. Harry eventually drew him out and got him to talk to him about what he was thinking about doing after graduation, how his sisters were, and if he wanted any help with getting a leg up in the Ministry. Finally, when Louis had consumed the entirety of the whiskey and seemed to be slowly gravitating closer and closer as the minutes ticked by, Harry asked with faux carelessness if he was seeing anyone. He knew the answer was no, but he asked to get Louis to think about romance.

"No…" Louis looked down at his shoes for a moment, the reticence he'd shown as a child coming through, "I'm not…I'm not like my sisters. I have trouble connecting with people like…like that."

"I understand," Harry soothed, daring to lay his hand on Louis' forearm. He almost smirked when he saw a hint of a flush that was entirely separate from the whiskey color his cheeks. "I'm sure you know I haven't exactly started dating even though it's been a few years since Ginny and I separated. I just can't seem to find the right person."

His eyes flicked to the clock and he did smile then. He'd timed it perfectly.

"I'm sorry, Louis. I need to go give my toast now. I'll speak to afterwards…?"

"Mm-hm," Louis nodded, still pink.

Harry grinned and trailed his hand down the length of that elegant arm before striding off in the direction of the head table. He no longer worked on the field, but his position as an emeritus earned him a standing position of respect. He gave a lot of speeches, and he hated most of them, but he couldn't remember ever wanting to get one over as quickly as he did that night.

Louis was even more receptive than he'd hoped, his body language betraying feelings that had nothing to do with the heat or the alcohol, feelings that Harry had thought he might have been imagining.

As soon as this speech was over, he was going to sweep Louis off his feet.

He raised his glass, instantly commanding the attention of everyone in the room. He no longer felt self-conscious under their concentrated gaze. Despite his desire to hurry, he forced himself to take his time and deliver one of the better toasts he had given in years. Throughout its duration his eyes strayed repeatedly to Louis, standing alone by that bar, staring up at him with admiration and ill-concealed desire.

Oh yes. This was going to be a pleasant evening.

When he was finished he had to endure the comments and hand-shaking that generally followed a toast. He took the time to embrace the host, who beamed and blubbered at him.

Finally he extricated himself and returned to Louis.

Ignoring him for a second, he ordered a martini and then slipped a hand around Louis' waist.

"What do you say to a stroll on the grounds? It's getting too warm."

Louis just nodded, swallowing hard. Harry accepted his drink, paid, and guided them outside. Their exit was largely unnoticed as it coincided with the reopening of the dance floor. Harry caught Bill's eye and got a frown.

Bill mouthed, "Be careful with my son."

Harry rolled his eyes and mouthed back over Louis' shoulder, "Of course."

Louis got quieter as they walked, and Harry followed his lead into silence. At some point during their stroll Louis' hand found its way around Harry's. Harry didn't pull away, secretly pleased that Louis was showing some initiative. Louis showed a fair bit more initiative when they paused to look at the moon on the koi-filled pond and he kissed Harry full on the mouth. His grip on Harry's hand tightened until he could feel his tendons complain.

Louis made to pull back after a while but Harry stopped that notion in its tracks by slipped his hand into that golden hair and holding him right where he wanted him. They kissed for what must have been a long time, eventually ending up on the well-groomed grass surrounding the pond, clothes rumpled and hair standing almost on end from hands running through it. They were interrupted by a House Elf that bashfully told them that all the other guests had left.

Harry apologized as Louis was too incapacitated with embarrassment to form words and helped the blonde put himself back together. When they were as presentable as possible, Harry grinned devilishly at him and asked, 

"So, my place or yours?"

~000~

The next morning, after a night of blissful sex, Harry proposed over a breakfast of marmalade on toast and various citrus fruits. Louis lied and said he'd think about it, but only because he didn't want to look too easy.

~000~

End Emeritus

Cross-generational slash! I never thought this pairing would come spilling out of my pen, but, well, obviously it did anyway.


End file.
